Falling
by Little-Red-Spit-Fire
Summary: Erasers are trying to terminate the flock, Ari continually tries to kidnap Max for himself. There's a new Experiment that could beat both her, and Fang. her name is 256. Fang tries to save Max from herself as she falls into despair. MAJOR FAXNESS
1. The Problem With Mutant Kids

So this is my first Maximum Ride fanfic.

I hope you all like it. It will have Fax. there isnt really any Fax in this chapter, but there will be in later ones. so anyways, read and enjoy. please do review, i'd love to know what you all think!!

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**The Problem with Mutant Kids**

We've been on the run for two years now. Well, in all actuality, we've been on the run just about our whole lives-the flock and I. But ever since the Itex incident, we've had to continually move from place to place about every week…and that's if we're lucky. We can barely stay seven days in one area before the Erasers come after us. And I don't think they consider it a game anymore. I'm pretty sure that they're out for blood-our blood. I think they want to terminate us.

"Can we go back to Disney World again?" Nudge asked, as we flew over the Indiana/Illinois border, not to far from Chicago.

"No Nudge," I kept starring straight ahead, not wanting to see the baby-face she was undoubtedly giving me.

"Please? We didn't get to stay very long last time, " Angel added.

I looked over at Fang for some help; we've recently been sharing the leadership role. I don't think he wants me to freak out again. Ever since the beach incident when I tried to cut the chip out of my arm, he's been trying to help with little things. I didn't like it at first, but the boy grows on ya after a while. I realized that I really did need the help, so now we more or less share it. Although I think _my_ version of sharing is different than his…

He just shrugged at me, and then added, "we're flying north, not south."

"Yea, sorry guys," I told them as I made a mental note to thank Fang later.

"So exactly where are we going?" Iggy asked from the right of me.

"I was thinking…maybe Wisconsin."

"Really!" Nudge shot up excitedly next to Iggy. Well, as much as a flying kid _can_ shoot up. "I've never seen a cow before! Or a farm! And Wisconsin's suppose to have them right?"

"Oh that would be sooo cool!" Gasman added.

"Yea, well we wouldn't be staying on a farm," I quickly told them. "We'd have to stay in a cave or sand dune, or something."

"Why can't we stay in a hotel?" Angel asked beside Fang. "You still have the card that the Voice gave you."

"Yes, but-"

"And we haven't stayed in a hotel for a while!" Nudge added excitedly. "We could have showers! And buy food!"

"Yea!" Total piped up from under Fang's arm. "I could finally sleep with out insects crawling over me!"

The whole flock soon picked up the idea. _Everyone_ wanted to stay in a hotel. Well, everyone except Fang and me.

"I don't know guys," I started hesitantly, trying to think of some reason that it would be bad. "The card could tell the Erasers where we are…"

Lame, I know.

"They always find where we are, I don't think the card has anything to do with it," Iggy said.

I quickly turned away from him and looked at the ground, not noticing that Fang was watching me out of the corner of his eye.

I knew Iggy wouldn't say that the Erasers found us every time because of the chip that was implanted into my arm, but he was probably thinking it. God how I wish I could just cut it out. Just cut it out, and throw it away…of course, I'd never tell Fang that.

_Max_, the Voice started. _Let them have some fun before it's too late._

_What do you mean, 'before it's too late'? _

Of course it didn't answer me. The damn thing never does.

Gritting my teeth, I turned to Nudge.

"Fine, we can stay in a hotel in Wisconsin somewhere." I didn't have to turn around to know that Fang was giving me another one of his great-job-at-stomping-them-down, looks.

"Oh really!" Nudge bounced up and down, disturbing Iggy's flying. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Max! How far away is Wisconsin?"

"We're gonna go to northern Wisconsin…so about an hour," I told her almost reluctantly. "I don't think there are many farms up that way though."

"Oh, I don't mind at all!" Nudge continued to bounce in excitement, earning herself a scowl from Iggy. "A real hotel room!"

"Yea," I said unenthusiastically.

We flew up to Minocqua, Wisconsin, which was up in the North Woods. Or at least that's what some of the street signs said.

"Ok guys, see that patch of forest there?" I asked everyone around me. "That's where we're landing. There's a Holiday Inn right near by."

Landing went smoothly, and a quick check of the perimeter showed that there were no Erasers. Not yet anyways.

"Okay," I said as soon as all of us were on the ground. "The Holiday Inn is just about a ten minuet walk from here.

All right, so I lied. It turned out to be more of a twenty-minuet walk. But whatever. None of them cared enough to complain-except Fang. But he didn't really _complain_, per say.

"Ten minuets my ass," he snidely commented in my ear as he came up behind me in the long check in line.

"Oh," I turned my head a fraction to see his face. "Is big, bad, Fang complaining?"

He just smirked at me, leaving me with the sensation that I was floating.

"Where's the rest of the flock?" I asked, noticing that they weren't by us.

"They're sitting in the arm chairs in the waiting section," he told me. "Don't worry Max, they're fine."

He always knew exactly what I was thinking.

The line finally shortened, and I reached the counter.

"Three rooms please," I said as I handed her my card. "And can I please have them close together."

Hey, if we're gonna charge it up, better do it right. I figured that three rooms would give everyone enough space.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss, but we only have two rooms left," the lady looked up from her computer. "Since it's summer, most of the rooms are taken. You know-tourism."

"Oh, yea," I had no clue what she was talking about. "Are the two rooms near each other?"

"Yes, they're actually joined by a door."

"Oh okay. That's fine then. Can I have them?"

"Certainly miss," the woman handed me back my card with two room keys. "You and your boyfriend have a nice time now."

"Oh he's not-" I started to mutter before Fang pulled me to were the rest of the flock was sitting.

How could she have even thought that? I mean Fang was like a brother to me…a very handsome brother…with an amazingly toned chest and gorgeous-

_Stop thinking like that_, I yelled at myself. _Fang is your brother. He's…like…your…brother…_

_Maybe you have feelings for him_, the Voice just _had_ to pick that moment to speak.

_Shut up! _

I looked to my right, and saw Angel grinning at me, trying to suppress her laughter.

Having an eight year old who can read minds sometimes has its downsides.

"What? What's so funny?" Nudge asked, looking between Angel and me.

"Nothing," I quickly said, not wanting to let Angel get a word in.

"Anyways," Fang started, as he picked the room keys out of my hands. "We only have two rooms, but they're joined."

"Sweet!" Nudge jumped out of her chair. "I call first shower in my room!"

"Okay sweetie, but first lets look at the rooms," I told them as we started to make our way over to the elevators. Our rooms were on the sixteenth floor. Not bad.

Once we found the rooms, Gazzy took one of the keys from Fang, and opened the door.

There were two double beds, with a nightstand in the middle and a chair in far left corner. A TV sat against the wall and across from the beds, and there was a balcony at the end, with sliding doors. Off to the right, was the door to the bathroom, and to the left of the TV was the door to the second room.

"I call this room!" Gazzy yelled as he and Iggy ran into it.

"Wait for us!" Nudge and Angel quickly followed.

"Are you guys _all_ going to sleep in there?" I asked.

"Well there _are_ two double beds," Angel started, a smirk making its way up her face. "And either way one of the rooms will have to have four in them, plus Total. And it's never a good idea to let Gazzy and Iggy have a room to themselves, they might blow something up."

_Smart little eight year old,_ I thought. I couldn't disagree with her, it was true that Iggy and Gazzy shouldn't be left alone.

"Speaking of Total," a voice came from inside Fang's bag. "Can you _please_ let me out of this thing."

"Yea," Fang took off his bag and opened it up.

Jumping out, Total quickly ran into Angel's, Nudge's, Gazzy's, and Iggy's room.

"All right, whatever," I told them. "Just please no fighting or yelling, and don't brake anything."

I started to turn to the other room on the left-yes I did realize that I'd have to share a room with Fang-when I remembered Gazzy and Iggy's little habit.

"And no, I repeat _no_, bombs are to be made _or_ set off."

"Damn," I heard Iggy curse under his breath.

Fang opened the second room, and my jaw dropped. I quickly closed it before he could notice though.

The room only had one bed. Sure the layout was the same, a chair in the corner, a TV against the wall that joined the two rooms, a bathroom on the left, and a sliding door that goes to the balcony, but there was _only_ one bed. One bed! One _queen_ sized bed!

_Oh shit._

Angel came into our room and started laughing outright. Fang and I were still standing in the entrance, not daring to cross the threshold.

"What's so-" Nudge stood gaping at the bed, then ran in by Angel and started laughing uncontrollably. Both of them were now jumping up and down on the bed.

Gazzy came up behind us, followed closely by Iggy who was lightly touching Gazzy's fingers to figure out where to go.

"So what's so funny?" Iggy asked Gazzy.

"Max and Fang only have one bed. They have to _share_ it," I could hear the smirk in his voice. "They have to _sleep_ together!"

"Gazzy!" I turned around and yelled, fully prepared to take him out.

"I thought you told us we couldn't yell," Iggy said calmly.

"Oh you-"

Gazzy and Iggy pushed Fang and I through the door and into the room.

"Have fun," Gazzy laughed as they opened the joining door, and slipped into their own room before I could grab them.

Fang was unusually quiet about this whole one bed thing. I mean, yea, he's _always_ quiet. But normally he at least says one word. I looked over to him, and noticed that he was trying to smother a smirk.

_Great, just great. I have to share a bed with _Fang_, and he thinks it's funny!_

_Don't lie to yourself,_ the Voice started again. _You have feelings for him. It's perfectly-_

"Shut up! I do _not_ have-" I quickly realized that I was yelling out loud, and clamped my mouth shut before I could say anything incriminating.

Angel just smiled and motioned at a bewildered Nudge to leave.

"Well…" I started once they left. "I guess we're…sleeping…together."

I walked over to the bed and flopped down on it, looking up at the white ceiling, and then I picked up a pillow and covered my face with it. God it was so comfortable.

"I hope you don't kick," I heard Fang's voice by my edge of the bed. "Cause I'll kick you right back."

"I figured as much," I took the pillow off my face and looked at him.

"Good," he quickly said as he jumped over me, and landed on the other side of the bed.

"We should probably get some sleep, it's eleven at night," I told him while I continued to stare up at the ceiling again.

"Are you okay?" he suddenly asked.

_Am I okay? What kind of question is that?_ Of course I wasn't okay. We're constantly being hunted by Erasers, Ari keeps wanting to get his grimy little paws on me, and this goddamn chip is still in my freaking arm!

"What do you mean?" I asked him as I sat up against the headboard. "You have to be more specific."

"About the chip," he gently picked up my left wrist and ran a finger over the scar from when I tried to cut it out.

Oh, that.

"I saw your face when Iggy mentioned how the card isn't telling them where we are," He continued to lightly touch my scar.

"I'm…" I was going to say fine, but something in Fang's eyes just made me want to tell him the truth. Ever since that day at the beach, we've trusted each other more with things. Feelings, being one of those things.

"I still want it out," I said in a rush, looking down at his hand touching my wrist. "They're using it to find us, and I want it to stop."

"Max, you know you can't take it out," he lifted my chin and made me stare at him directly. "You know you can't cut it out of your arm, right? You could cut the wrong thing and…and end up killing yourself."

"I know," I whispered, realizing how close our faces were. "But I don't want them to continually find us because of me."

"How do you know the rest of us don't have chips in our arms?" He asked as he pulled me closer towards him. I could count each individual eyelash.

_I wonder what those lips taste like_, my mind absently pondered as my eyes wandered down his face.

_No! Don't think about that_! I tried to keep my focus on Fang, and not his lips.

"I-I don't," I gave in. "But still…I want it out…"

"Will you promise me something?" Fang quietly asked.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I could feel tears springing up in my eyes. I tried to keep them away, but the thought of watching my flock get murdered because of the damn chip that was in _my_ arm just made me want to die.

"Will you promise me that you will never try and cut it out again?"

"Fang," I whispered. That did it, the tears started falling down my cheeks and onto his hands that were now cupping my face.

Truth was, I didn't _want_ to promise him that. I still _wanted_ to cut it out. And he must have realized that.

"Max, please promise me that you wont." He brushed some tears away with his thumb. "I don't know what the flock would do if something ever happened to you-" he paused a moment. "I don't know what _I'd_ do if something happened to you."

I couldn't say anything, I just sat there and stared at him.

"And besides, that's the Erasers job to try and hurt you," he grinned. "You don't want to make it easy for them, do you?"

I grinned despite myself. He just had the uncanny ability to make me feel instantly better.

"No. No, I wouldn't want to do that."

Without even thinking, I leaned into kiss him.

Unfortunately, Nudge picked that exact moment to open the adjoining door.

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So i hope you all liked it. please, please, PLEASE, REVIEW! i really want to know how i did on it. thank you!


	2. Visitors

So this is the next chapter, hope you guys like it!! Thank for reviewing last chapter, and hope to you review this one too!! anyways, read and enjoy!!

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**Visitors**

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"Nudge!" I nearly yelled in my haste to jump away from Fang.

We both sat in corners of the queen bed, as far apart as we could, not wanting Nudge to get the wrong idea…not that there was an idea for Nudge to pick up in the first place…

"I, um," she looked at the two of us. "What were you guys doing before I came in?"

"Nothing!" I lied quickly. A bit _too_ quickly. Nudge narrowed her eyes suspiciously at us, as she started to smirk.

"You were doing something," she continued to stare between us. "Max, your eyes are all red-were you crying?"

"No I-I was yawning," lame, I know. "You know how when you yawn, your eyes start tearing up?"

"Yea…" she continued to glance between us, clearly not accepting my lie. "Why were you guys sitting so close before I came in?"

"We, uh," I looked over at Fang for some help.

"Max was showing me something," he responded.

"_Showing_ you something?" Nudge nearly laughed. "What was she _showing_ you?"

_Oh son of a bitch. Why couldn't he have come up with a lie that _didn't _have any sexual innuendos? _

"I was showing him…my…" I looked around the room, trying to find something, anything.

Nothing. There was absolutely _nothing_ lying around that I could tell her I was showing him. Damn it.

"You were showing him your…"Nudge was _clearly_ loving this.

"My scar," I finally said. I couldn't think of anything else, and it was on my arm, so it would make a good reason for having to sit so close. "I was showing him my scar."

"_Why_?" Nudge was still glancing suspiciously between us.

"Because she was showing me how it was starting to fade," Fang told her.

"I don't believe you…Angel thinks that you guys are-"

"Nudge, what did you want?" Fang finally shut her up.

Don't get me wrong, I love Nudge, but sometimes-in incidents like these-you really just need her to stop talking. _Especially_ when she's about to say something that could be _quite_ damaging.

"Oh-I," she faltered a bit. "I wanted to know if we could order room service, we're all hungry."

"You mean _you're_ hungry," I corrected, smiling at her.

"Well…yea."

"Yea that's fine. Get some food."

"Thanks." Nudge turned to leave, then looked back at us, "I wont say anything."

I stared after her as she walked back into her room again. How did she even know something was going on? I mean, _yea_ our lies were patchy at best, but still…

Then I thought of it. Angel. Of _course_. Angel probably told her what I was thinking. Damn that mind reading eight year old!

We're gonna have to have a talk-and soon.

"Ten bucks says Angel told her to come in here at that specific time," I turned to Fang to see him smirking at me.

"What?"

"You jumped away from so fast I thought you might have been struck by lightening," he laughed as he came closer to me.

I never realized how large a queen bed _really_ was.

"You did too," I said defensively without meaning to. "Do you know the lengthy explanation we'd have to go through if she saw us _kissing_? We sucked at giving her an explanation as to why we were even that close to begin with. Can you imagine the one we'd have to give her if she walked in just 5 seconds later?"

"Well, crisis averted. For the most part," he came within a couple inches of me. "Although you still haven't promised me something."

The laughter died from his eyes. I knew what he was getting at, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't promise that. I _wouldn't_ promise that.

I needed to get that chip out. I wouldn't let the Erasers find and kill us, all because of me. I just couldn't live with myself if that happened. Even if Fang _was_ right about the chip not having anything to do with it, I still needed it out. It didn't matter that it could kill me in the process, as long as the Flock is safe, that's all that matters.

"Max," he put his hands on my shoulders and turned me so that I had no choice but to look at him.

"I'm-I'm sorry," I faltered as I bit my lip. The tears were starting to come back.

_I am becoming a crier. That's just _great

Images of Erasers attacking us, Ari gloating about how _I_ led them right to us, filled my mind. The tears started flowing down my cheeks, as Fang pulled me in to his chest and held me there.

I was making his black t-shirt a sopping mess, but he didn't seem to mind. He just sat against the headboard and held me tightly against his chest.

"Please promise me that you wont try and take it out again," Fang whispered in my ear as he continued to hold me.

"I-I can't," I answered truthfully. I didn't want to tell him, but I saw no way around it. "I just-I can't. I'm sorry Fang."

"But why can't you?" he pushed me away from him a few inches so he could see my face. "Why can't you promise me that?"

"You know why," I mumbled, staring at the comforter.

"No, I really don't," he lifted my chin with his hand and made me look at him. "I really can't understand why you wouldn't want to promise me that. Max, you could end up _killing_ yourself. Why do you want it out _that_ badly?

"Because it's going to lead them straight to us. _I_ am going to lead them straight to us and it's gong to be on _my_ shoulders," I said in a rush.

"_What's_ going to be on your shoulders?" he asked quietly.

"Your death," I whispered, to afraid to say it loudly. "Yours, and Nudge's, and Iggy's, and Angel's, and Gazzy's deaths."

"Max, that wont happen," he pulled me back into his chest and held me tight.

It's funny how I can feel _so_ safe in his arms, even when everything around me is falling apart.

"First of all, I wouldn't _let_ it happen," he kissed my forehead lightly. "And second of all, it's just not going to happen."

"But how do you know?" I started crying into his shirt again. "It very well _could_ happen, and it would be _all my fault_."

"Even if it did happen, it wouldn't be your fault," he pulled me tighter into his chest so that a piece of paper couldn't even fit between us. "Nothing would be your fault. You've got to believe me."

I barely nodded; I was too drained to speak.

"Although, if you try and carve that chip out of your arm again, and you end up killing yourself," I felt him reflexively tighten his grip on my body, "that _will_ be you fault. And I would make it my life's mission to _personally_ bring you back to life, just so that I could kill you myself."

I laughed a little, which was a hard feat considering how I was still crying into Fang's chest. It came out more of a muddled half sob, half laugh mix, than an _actual _laugh.

"But this chip is telling them how to find us," I couldn't give up. I still wanted it out, and I wanted him to understand. "I need it out Fang."

"No you don't," he muttered as he started rubbing my back, right between my wings.

I'm pretty sure he was trying to make me shut up.

"What are you doing?" I asked, to tired to put much force into the question.

"Trying to make you close your eyes and get some sleep," he bent down and kissed my forehead again. "You need it badly. So is my evil plan working?"

"Yes," I mumbled, smiling into his chest.

I could feel myself be pulled into unconsciousness, and embraced it whole-heartedly because I knew I'd be safe in his arms.

That was until I heard the sliding glass door, which led to the balcony, shatter to the floor.

_Shit_, I barely had time to register an attack before an all to familiar monster spoke.

"Oh, isn't that _cute_," Ari's voice rang through the room.

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So i hope you liked it. i'll try and update before i go on vaca. please do review!!

thank you: **Anna, The-Only-English-Rose, blackwingsofdoom, Maximumcalories, booknut, Myrah, and Jakie, for reveiwing. you guys are awsome! i dont have enough to respond to your reviews, but i will in the next chapter. **

**though, booknut, i know exactly where St. Germain is, we shop there sometimes. lol. i live in Illinois, so we go up to minacqua for vaca. **

**and Jakie, i'd luv to read your stuff, just send it to me.**


	3. The Beautiful Smell of Melting Metal

I'm sorry this has taken so long to post. I wrote it out a month ago on vaca, but i've been so busy with the musical i'm in that i havent had time to sit down and type it out. agian, i'm sooo sorry!!!!! please don't hate me!!!! anyways, here is the 3rd chapter, and i hope you like it. please do review and tell me what you think! or just review to yell at my lateness.

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**The Beautiful Smell of Melting Metal**

Fang and I jumped up and started attacking the Erasers left and right. There must have been thirty or more. I quickly kicked one in the stomach, in my effort to get to the adjoining door. I saw Fang smash an Eraser into the wall out of the corner of my eye as well. I continued to make my way to the door-which was heavily guarded-kicking and punching anyone who was in my way, when I heard Nudge's scream.

"Get away from me!" I shouted as I slammed my hands over an Erasers ears, and dodged another's claws.

"Nudge!" I cried out. "I swear if you hurt her," I had to duck again as an Eraser came at me. Falling onto the bed-I didn't make it far past the Eraser Wall- I stood up quickly and surveyed the situation.

Fang was in the corner by the bathroom, taking on nearly ten Erasers. Another ten or more Erasers were guarding the adjoining door, and nearly fifteen were stationed through out other areas of the small room. Oh, and did I forget to mention the fact that half of those fifteen were coming towards me?

I was just about to jump off the bed and attack an Eraser whose back was towards me, when Ari leapt onto the bed out of nowhere.

"I knew I'd get you here eventually," he smirked as he walked closer to me.

"What the hell are you going on about?" I backed away, poised to fight.

"The bed," he came closer, claws out. "I knew we'd find ourselves here."

"Yea, I don't think so," I kicked my leg out, hitting him squarely in the jaw.

"Oh, but I do," he said as he caught my foot on my second kick, and twisted it down, bringing me face first into the bed.

"Shit," I groaned into the comforter. I was pretty sure that he had just broken my ankle.

Before I had time to get back onto my feet, Ari flopped down on top of me and slammed his fist into what would have been the back of my head, except I turned to face him at the last second and it ended up smashing down the right side of my face.

Bringing up his claws, he grabbed my face and made me look at him.

You may be wondering why I simply didn't punch him back, or struggle harder, but truth was that I couldn't. He was on top of me-his knees pinning my hands down. And because he weighed so much more than I did, I couldn't somehow manage to throw him off, though I was kicking my legs and thrashing around best I could.

"I always said I liked 'em feisty," he pressed down on my skin causing five little beads of crimson to appear.

"Get off of me you sick freak!"

He took his free hand and pressed it against the top of my shirt.

"Who needs scissors when you have claws?"

Realizing what he meant, I started to thrash around even harder.

_Where the hell is Fang?_

He pressed a claw down, ripping my shirt, and skin, as he slowly-tantalizingly- made his way down my chest.

"Get-off-of-me!!" I tried to kick him even harder, anything to make him let go of my shirt, but it didn't work.

When Ari moved a fraction to the side, I saw why Fang wasn't helping me; he was being detained by fifteen of the Erasers.

Ari stopped after only four inches, and made to rip my shirt the rest of the way.

_Good thing I fell asleep with my bra on_

I wasn't going to utter a peep, I wouldn't let Ari have that satisfaction.

Although I _was_ freaking out in my head.

"Leave her alone Ari!" Fang growled, trying to unhook himself from the Erasers.

"Why should I?" Ari asked. "She's so much more fun like this."

Ari brought his hand up to my face and started stroking my cheek with one long claw, leaving a trail of crimson. My blood started to run cold. I didn't know what he was going to do to me, but I did know that I couldn't get out of it.

"Don't lay another hand on her you disfigured monster," Fang could barely control his anger. I had never seen him like that before.

"Here's the deal Bird Boy," Ari spat, as he moved his hands down to my neck. "You either comply to our deal, or I rip out Max's throat right now."

"Why Max?" Fang asked.

"We actually need all of you freaks, not just Max."

Ari motioned to the Erasers by the adjoining door, to open it. They all stood back from the door, giving me a clear seeing path into the room.

It was a nightmare.

"No!" I screamed, and tried to jump up, earning myself a small cut on my neck. But if your family was all bound and gagged and thrown to the floor, I think you'd scream too. It was like something from one of my worst nightmares-literally.

Nudge and Angel were thrown in a heap at the end of their bed, both still seemed to be knocked out. Gazzy and Iggy were sitting up straight and awake, though they had a cut lip, and Gazzy had a bleeding nose. There was no trace of Total anywhere.

"So back to our deal," Ari said lazily. "You stop putting up a fight, and let us bound you with the others, or I'll rip out Max's throat."

I could see Fang's eyes dart between Ari, clearly trying to se if he was bluffing and me. I had a sickening feeling that he would actually rip my throat out. I don't know about you, but I personally like having my throat. I would really rather he _not_ rip it out. Though it's not what I want that matters, it's what's best for the flock that matters most. And as much as I wouldn't want to admit, it would be better if Fang fought them off, that way he would at least be on the outside and able to help the others.

"Fang," I whispered, careful not to move my neck since Ari's claws were still pressed against it. "Fight, and escape. You know it's for the best. The flock will need help."

"Don't even think like that Max," he whispered, barely suppressing his rage.

"Well Bird-Boy?" Ari pressed his claw harder on my neck, causing more blood to trickle down the side. I tried as hard as I could to keep my face indifferent and not show the pain I was feeling. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work very well. Fang must have seen my eyes flair in pain, because he managed to throw all the Erasers off in his blinding rage, coming right for Ari.

"You take one more step," Ari pushed my neck into the bed with so much force, I was sure he had crushed my windpipe. That fear wasn't lessened any when I tried to take a deep breath, and found that I couldn't. I could only take shallow breaths, and every time I did, a stabbing pain would erupt in my throat. I bit down hard on my lip to suppress the pain and worry that was creeping up my whole body.

Fang stopped in his tracks. I saw his eyes dart toward my mouth, and was numbly aware that blood was flowing down my chin.

"One more step and I'll crush her throat," Ari leered at him. "So-do we have a deal?"

"I-" Fang started but was cut off.

"Max, please don't give up," an Eraser in the other room started talking. I turned my head to look-which I regretted instantly. A stabbing pain erupted from my throat, leaving me gasping for air. "You can't let Ari kill her Fang. We need her."

Looking over at Angel, I realized what was going on. She was still laying down on the ground, appearing as though she were passed out, but her face was tight with concentration. She was feeding her words into the Erasers mind, and forcing him to speak. She had essentially taken over his mind.

"What is this?" Ari growled.

"Take the deal Fang," the Eraser, or Angel, continued. "We can't save the world without her."

"I was never going to _not_ take the deal," Fang whispered, staring straight at Angel. "We're a flock, and we stick together-all of us." Turning back towards Ari, and me he added, "No matter what Max thinks is best."

I saw the Eraser crumple to the floor and Angel's eyes snap open, a tiny smile working its way up her features.

"We have a deal then? You stop resisting, and Max will live?"

"Deal." Fang agreed.

After they finished bounding and gagging us, they threw us like trash into a large crate with metal bars, and tossed that into a helicopter that was on the roof of the hotel.

The pain in my throat started to subside some, as I continued to take short, shallow breaths, not wanting to test it. In a couple hours it would hopefully be healed. Ari had stopped just short of actually crushing my throat.

"How is everyone?" Fang asked looking around, once we'd all managed to move our gags so we could talk.

"I'm alright," Nudge spoke up first. "I didn't really have time to fight back, so I didn't get injured much."

"I'm alright too," Angel said. "Though I'm worried about Total, I don't know what happened to him…"

I could tell that she was holding back tears.

I wanted to comfort her, tell her that he's all right, but I couldn't speak yet.

"Total's all right," Gazzy whispered. "I shoved him in my bag before any of the Erasers saw him."

"But where's your bag now?" Angel asked quietly.

"I think they might have thrown it in here with us," Nudge answered. "I saw them grab our stuff and dump it behind the pilots seats. He should be up there."

"I hope so…" Angel trailed off into silence, staring at the metal bars that enclosed us.

"How bout you, Iggy, you alright?" Fang turned to look at Iggy who was sitting between us.

"You mean other than being thrown into yet another crate, and then thrown into a helicopter?" A flicker of a smile showed on his face. "Yea I'm alright. Just cut my lip fighting them."

"Is your throat better Max?" I could see the worry in his eyes.

I nodded my head.

"What happened? How did they find us?" Nudge asked quietly.

"I don't' know Nudge," Fang answered her, as I rubbed her arm, trying to make her feel better.

"I do," Angel whispered, almost inaudibly.

_Here it is,_ I thought. _She's going to tell them all that it's my chip._

"I picked up something in Ari's mind…"She trailed off.

"Well?" Iggy looked at her impatiently.

"He was thinking about how he was really glad that there tracking device had lasted this long." She shot a quick glance at my arm, thinking that I wouldn't notice, then continued, " and he was wondering how we hadn't figured it out yet."

"But do you know _exactly_ what the tracking device is?" Fang inquired, glancing at me.

"Well…no…" Angel looked at me for a fleeting second. "He-he never specified."

"Then we can't make any speculations," he looked directly at me.

We all sat in silence for a while. No one wanted to voice what the other was thinking.

"Miss me?" a voice came from behind me, effectively making me jump and hit my head on the bars.

"Total!" Angel whispered.

"I waited until those oafs up there fell asleep," Total answered, before anyone could ask. "Gazzy threw me in his bag, and then they unknowingly threw me in here."

"Make yourself useful, and bite off the rope on our wrists," Fang ordered him.

"A simple 'hello' would suffice too," Total grumbled as he set to work.

With in minuets our hands were all free, and we started working on our legs. After we were rope free, we helped each other unbound our wigs. How that was going to help us get out of the cage, I have no idea.

"Oh Total, I'm so glad you're all right," Angel beamed.

"What-what's that smell?" I spoke up. My throat felt like it was pretty well healed, and I was getting sick of not talking.

"It's not me," Gazzy answered defensively.

"No-no," I took another sniff of air. "It smells-"

"Almost metallic," Iggy finished. "Like…melting metal…only, when does metal melt in a helicopter by itself?"

"I don't…" I stopped dead.

Fang's hand was resting against the bars; only it wasn't really _resting_. It looked more like it was going _through_ the bars.

It _was _going through them.

"Holy shi-" Nudge started, until I elbowed her in the stomach.

"Watch the language," I told her. Then looking back at Fang, I said, "look at your left hand."

"What?" he asked confused.

"Just do it," I insisted.

"What's going on?" Iggy asked, irritation evident in his voice.

"Fang can melt metal," Gazzy said in awe.

Fang removed his hand from the bars and drew in a quick breath. There was silver, melted metal all over his palm, dripping down his fingers. He quickly looked at where his hand was resting, and saw a gaping hole.

"Sweet!" Gazzy exclaimed. "Now you can just melt a hole out the side and we can get outta here!"

"Good idea Gazzy," I smiled. "But I think that it would be better if we left through a hole in the _bottom_ of the helicopter."

"We'll need a distraction though…" Iggy announced.

"Nah, I can just tell them not to check on us," Angel smiled sweetly. "I've been doing it the whole time, otherwise they would have caught us by now.

She really does scare me sometimes.

"You better not leave me out here," Total piped up next to Angel, but on the other side of the bars.

With in twenty minuets-or at least what felt like twenty minuets since we had know way of telling how long it really was-Fang had melted a hole big enough for Total to come through, and was now working on the bottom. He had melted a large enough hole through the bars for us to fit, and was trying to finish going through the helicopter when an Eraser happened to look back at us.

"Hey! What are you-"

Fang finished the hole, and a loud rushing sound filled the whole helicopter drowning out the Eraser. The hole was like a vacuum, we immediately hung onto the bars, and Fang grabbed Total, before he could be sucked out.

"Angel, GO NOW!" I yelled over the noise, as Angel let go of the bars and got sucked out. Next was Gazzy, then Nudge, then Iggy.

"Go max!" Fang shouted at me.

"No!" I shouted back. "You have Total, you go first. I'll go after you!"

he glared at me for a moment, but let go of the bars, and got sucked out the hole. I could hear Total's cries, and yells through all the noise.

"Ari!" an Eraser was yelling into a cell phone. "Ari, they got away!"

"By boys!" I shouted as loud as I could, then let go of the bars.

I took great satisfaction in seeing their faces contorted with rage, as I got sucked out.

Immediately opening my wings, I looked around for the others; they were hovering about 100 feet to the left, out of the way of the crashing helicopter.

"Looks like we might be over Nevada," Fang said. "Three guesses as to where they were taking us."

"You're talking a lot," I smiled. "It's nice, keep doing it."

"Do you really think they were taking us back to the-"

"Where are we going now?" Gazzy cut Nudge off.

"To Alaska," I answered instantly.

"_Alaska_?" Iggy said incredulously. "What's up there?"

"The largest National Park in America," I responded. "6.2 _million acres_ of trees, and mountains."

* * *

so i hope you liked it. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of it!!! special thanks to:

**Niffty One, Plainlyironic, Wings of Water- SKYE, Dragonology (nice name by the way), Restart, The-only-english-rose, WitherWings357, Supergirrl, Sapphira Adi, Priestess Kohana, Monster in love, RogueSummersLover, Meepisms, Maximum Ride All the Way. **

Thanks to all of you! you totally rock my socks!!!!

oh and, **Monster in love- **no, they did not kiss.


	4. Forks, Hot Dogs, and Unanswered Promises

I'm so sorry this took forever for me to get out. I couldn't do it in April or May cause i was to busy with all of my school papers and projects that were all due at the end of the semester. and then i had summer school, and then i went away camping. Anywho, here is the next chapter. Leave me some love! :-D

oh yea, and i tried to proof read it, but there may still be some errors in there.

* * *

**Forks, Hot Dogs, and unanswered promises**

I have come to realize over the years that it is harder for the Erasers to track us when we're in an area that is populated heavily by trees and mountains. Like Alaska. I think the tracking device (which Angel heard Ari mention in his thoughts, but still don't know what it is) has a hard time picking up a signal. Kind of the same way that GPS systems get all screwy when you take them into a national forest or something. They never know where they actually are.

"Are we there yet?" Nudge piped up beside me.

We were still flying to Alaska. But it was taking For-freaking-ever. It didn't help that every five or six hours (or sometimes less, depending on the weather) we had to stop for food to get our energy levels back up.

"No sweetie," I responded," we're above Seattle now. We still have a while, and we should actually stop here and take a rest."

"Why?" she asked, frowning.

"Because we have at least another four hours of flying," I tried to explain nicely, but the constant 'are we there yet' was starting to get on my nerves. "And we all need a rest right about now."

I looked over at Angel and saw her blinking her eyes a bit more than normal, and she was starting to sag a bit.

"None of us can go much further without some rest."

"Since we're in Washington," Nudge started picking at her wind breaker, "do you—do you think we could visit Forks?"

"Why?" I asked slowly, glancing at Fang who seemed to be just as clueless as I was.

"Well, it's just, that's where this book I read about on Wikipedia takes place," she said really fast. "I thought it'd be cool to see it."

When did she get on a computer to even look things up on Wikipedia? And for that matter, why was she even looking up a book?

"Um," was all the response I could think of.

"So does that mean we can?" she asked hopefully as her eyes lit up.

"What is this book anyway?" I asked.

"It's that one about those vampires—the one everyone's talking about."

"How do you know everyone's talking about it? And who's everyone? I've never heard of it before."

But then, I don't really know much about books.

"Well that's—that's what the article said," Nudge answered quietly. "It said that it was the new Harry Potter and everyone was talking about it."

Yes, we know what Harry Potter is. We may be running (or flying) for our lives, and never in one place for more than a week, and don't have enough time to read a book, let alone pick one up, but we don't live under a rock. And anyone who knows anything knows what Harry Potter is.

"That's nice Nudge," I tried not to let my annoyance seep through, "but we're not stopping in some small town just cause a stupid book took place there. A book that you don't even remember the name of and that you haven't actually read."

Oops, so much for keeping the annoyance out of my voice.

Fang gave me a good-job-leader look and said, "Sorry Nudge. But we need to stay out of towns for a little while."

"I understand," she looked crest fallen. I felt bad, I wish she could have visited the town, but there was just no way I was gonna let her be put in danger because of a silly book. "I just thought it'd be cool…"she trailed off.

"I'm hungry," Angel announced. "Are we going to stop and rest soon?"

Her little face was showing signs of fatigue.

"Yes." I scanned the land below us. "We'll drop down here; we're on the outskirts of the city. We can just sleep in the forest down there."

Once we landed, Fang and Iggy went to find food at the nearest grocery store, or Wal-Mart.

Angel sad down on a fallen log with Total on her lap. "Can we make a fire? It's cold."

Total yipped in agreement.

"Sure, I'll do it!" Gazzy volunteered straight away.

"Do not burn the forest down," I gave him a warning glare, which he just returned with an 'I'm innocent' smile.

I looked for Nudge. I hadn't heard from her lately.

"She's up there," Angel answered my unspoken question, "in the tree."

"Thank you sweetie," I ruffled Angel's hair as I climbed up to find Nudge.

"I'm sorry we couldn't stop there, and I'm sorry I lost my temper on you," I picked up her hand and pressed it between mine.

"It's okay," she spoke to her knees. "It wasn't really that big of a deal anyway."

"If I ever lose my temper on you again," I brushed some hair out of her eyes, "you have every right to yell at me. And I give you full permission to go on and yell my head off."

She grinned at me, "all right. But you know, you'll probably regret that."

I just smiled. _Yea, I probably will._

"Is that food I smell?" I said, sniffing the air like a dog.

"We're back from Wal-Mart," Iggy announced.

"And we've got hot dogs galore," Fang added.

"Mmm, hot dogs!!" Nudge stood up and immediately jumped down to the ground to join them around the fire.

Fang looked up at me with a question, but I just shook my head and jumped down to join them.

It was delicious. We all had at least five hot dogs. Maybe more, I wasn't really counting that closely.

"That was some good eating," Gazzy patted his stomach on top of his tree branch.

"Sure was," Iggy agreed next to Nudge.

"It's time for some rest so we can fly to Denali tomorrow," I said sticking out my fist. The others stacked their fists on top, and then we tapped them and went to sleep.

Well everyone but Fang and I went to sleep.

"You still haven't promised me," he said, almost inaudibly.

"And I told you that I can't promise you that," I responded.

"You're being stubborn," he looked down at me from his branch, which was only a foot higher and to the left of mine. "It could kill you."

"Living could kill me," I responded automatically.

"That's not the same thing, and you know it." He got down onto my branch and sat right next to me. His face, only half a foot from mine.

"Sure it is," I looked down at the ground.

"No," he picked up my chin," it's not."

"Why not?" I hissed. "Why aren't they the same? Both can kill me."

"Because one you'd be giving in, and other you'd be fighting." He took a deep breath, "and you're a fighter Max. You don't just take things lying down."

"Well maybe I should start," I mumbled, not even meaning it.

He took my wrists in his hands, absent mindedly stroking my scar. "Don't say that."

"Well I don't really know what you want me to say Fang," I breathed. "I can't promise you what you want me to."

"Will you at least think about it?" He asked, moving in closer to me, making me wish I could slide right through the tree trunk.

I didn't answer; I just stared at our hands.

Without warning, he leaned in and kissed my cheek lightly, then jumped back up to his branch soundlessly.

I put my hand to my cheek and felt me face flush with heat.

_There must be something wrong with me,_ I thought.

_No, _the Voice popped in, _you're just reacting like a normal human girl reacts when a boy she likes kisses her._

_Oh _shut up_, I've told you—I have no such feelings._ Though even as I said it, I started doubting my words.

_Don't wait until it's too late Max. None of you have much time left._

_What do you mean?_ I almost yelled in alarm. _You know something, don't you?_

_It's already been created. You can't do anything about it Max._

"Damn it!" I realized I swore aloud, and clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to wake anyone.

_What the hell did that mean? It's already been created?_

I made up my mind. I'd only tell Fang what the Voice said. I didn't want to worry the others prematurely.

* * *

Wow, that sure was a lot of dialogue! well, i hope you guys liked it. again, sorry for the wait. I should have the next chapter out while I'm on vaca. i will try and not have such long absences. Leave me some love! :-D

also, thank you to all of those who reviewed and told met o keep going with story. i had really wanted to continue it, but if none of you wanted to read it anymore, i didn't really see a point in continuing. so thank you for caring! lol.

**Thank you:**

**bookwurm96, ...smiles..., sharlie25, wolfie, FALLING-ANGEL 24, LE Trex, thewheeloftime, weirdpeopleruletheworld, AussieGrrl01, Christa-93, pigs103, flywithme4ever, Nellamy, hannah, JamieLynn Black, Destiny, loopdiloop369, reader, mic, faxsrules, Skye Ride, gabby, railcgun, tigg, Living Vampire, Tuesday the First, danceswithwings119, Meepisms, Suppergirrl, plainlyironic, Dragonology, Maximum Ride All the Way.**

**Destiny-** Thanks for the review! i wanted to continue it really badly, but i didn't know if you (and all other other readers out there) wanted to even read it. that's why i asked. and yes, your review was helpful. thank you much!


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